CENTERVILLE, Ga. -- Improving Centerville's parks and roads may soon be underway.

This after city council members talked about adding a hotel/motel tax Wednesday night. But how could this affect the locals?

If passed, the proposed ordinance would bring in new money for the city coming from a tax on hotel or motel rooms, as well as Airbnb's. If the ordinance is passed as is, the tax would be seven percent of the room's cost.

Kate Hogan, Centerville's Director of Economic Development, says this ordinance could really help out the city. If passed, Hogan says it would drive business, move the tax burden from Centerville residents to tourists, and fund infrastructure and parks.

"The city of Centerville doesn't have a hotel, but we are home to a couple of B and B's, which is an opportunity for us to tap an untapped revenue stream," she says. "This allows us to be able to do big infrastructure projects like road projects, and our park, our fire station. It's just an opportunity to capitalize on those visiting our city and shift the tax burden from those who live here and those who visit."

Do you think Centerville city council should pass a hotel/motel tax? Click below to vote or head to the poll here.

Hogan also hopes the ordinance would bring in Centerville's first hotel.

"It's an opportunity to accrue more visitors, because the more visitors that we have, the better our SPLOST funding," she says.

And similarly, Centerville's neighbors including Warner Robins, Byron, Perry, and Macon have all benefited from a hotel/motel tax.

CEO of Visit Macon Gary Wheat says Macon-Bibb County's hotel/motel tax brings in millions of dollars annually.

"On average about a little over $4 million in a year that the group of our roughly 5,600 hotels in our market generate...and that's 5,600 rooms in the market," says Wheat.

Considering the number of hotel rooms in Macon and the revenue it generates for Macon-Bibb County, the City of Centerville could expect a little over $200,000 generated by 283 hotel rooms.

Although Centerville's hotel/motel tax wouldn't bring in nearly as much as surrounding cities, Hogan is hopeful it would attract new businesses -- including hotels.

https://wgxa.tv/news/local/lack-of-hotels-not-stopping-centerville-from-pushing-hotelmotel-max